


The Night Watch

by kinky_kneazle



Category: Marvel Avengers Movies Universe
Genre: Capsicoul - Freeform, M/M, Team, Translation Available
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-28
Updated: 2012-07-28
Packaged: 2017-11-10 21:51:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/471088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinky_kneazle/pseuds/kinky_kneazle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was three a.m. and Steve was doing his rounds.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Night Watch

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [this prompt](http://avengerkink.livejournal.com/7940.html?thread=16161284&#t16161284) at [](http://avengerkink.livejournal.com/profile)[**avengerkink**](http://avengerkink.livejournal.com/). Much love to [](http://curiouslyfic.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://curiouslyfic.livejournal.com/)**curiouslyfic** for beta and hand-holding duties.
> 
> This has now been translated into Chinese by the lovely Su1. You can check it out [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7217893).

It was three a.m. and Steve was doing his rounds. He didn't need as much sleep as normal people -- found it hard to sleep, in fact -- so he often did an early morning check of the Tower, making sure everything was as it should be.

He started with the lab. Pepper was in California, which meant Tony would not be in bed. He pushed open the door and sure enough, Tony was face down on the couch he kept just for this purpose.

He'd confessed, one other morning in the stillness of three a.m. that invited softly-spoken secrets, that the bed was for when he had another person there. That it was too large for just him, an expanse of emptiness that left him alone and staring at the ceiling, brain too wired to sleep.  
Steve smiled at the drool collecting in the corner of Tony's mouth and pulled his shoes off before drawing a blanket over him. It was good he was sleeping; the last two nights Steve had found him tinkering and in desperate need of a little shut-eye.

His next stop was Bruce's room. Bruce had a soldier's habit of being able to sleep anywhere, learned from his time on the run. It seemed to make him take advantage of a comfortable bed anytime he found it. When Steve poked his head in, Bruce was in the middle of the bed, spread-eagled so that he took up every inch and snoring lightly.

Steve closed the door behind him.

Another person who could sleep anywhere was Clint. Steve encountered him as he walked through their living area. He was sitting in the window seat looking out over the city. Or he would have been if his eyes were open and his head wasn't resting against his chest.

It wasn't the first time Steve had found him like this. Clint would never admit it, but Steve thought he felt happier knowing he'd be getting a birds-eye view of the city as soon as he woke.

"Clint," he said, careful not to touch. "You want to go to bed?"

The eyes opened. Blinked. "Nah," he mumbled. "'M good, Cap."

Steve handed him a blanket and Clint smiled his thanks as he hunkered down underneath it, seeming to get even more uncomfortable before his eyes drifted shut again.

Natasha's door was cracked open slightly, and the light from the hall showed her looking more innocent than she ever did awake, red hair spread over linen and one hand tucked under the pillow. The first time Steve had pushed her door open it was only super-serum reflexes that meant the knife thudded into the wall rather than his jugular. He knew exactly why Natasha slept with a hand under her pillow.

They'd talked about it that night. Come to an understanding. She said she knew why he felt the need to check. He _didn't_ say that he knew she liked the idea of someone checking. That it had never happened when she was a child, and knowing that someone stood at her doorway and made sure her chest kept rising and falling for a few brief moments let her sleep peacefully. He closed the door, as they'd agreed, and moved to the next room.

Thor's door was wide open and Steve swallowed a snort. Thor claimed that Midgard sheets were uncomfortable and scratchy and there was not a hint of modesty in him, so his ass was on display for any who cared to see.

He slept on his front, his right arm and leg reaching across the empty space beside him, as if cradling someone who wasn't there. Jane was away at a conference and Steve hoped that she was due back soon. He didn't like seeing Thor so lonely.

But all was sound in the room, so he shut the door firmly; no need for Natasha to see any godly ... bits.

Last on his list was Phil Coulson. He pushed the door open and stood looking for a long moment. Phil slept on an odd angle, as if he hated to sleep on his side, but his wound still pained him too much to sleep on his back. Despite how uncomfortable it looked he had a soft smile on his face.

"I sleep better with support," he said without opening his eyes and Steve quickly closed the door and climbed into bed beside him. "Everything squared away?"

There was a smile in Phil's voice when he asked, a fond sort of amusement; Steve didn't let it bother him. If anyone in this house understood his need to make sure his team was safe before retiring for the night, it was Phil. In fact, he knew that if he didn't do it, Phil would. The rest of the team laughed at them, teased him for taking over baby-sitting duties in the middle of the night. Called him Phil's 2IC.

He liked knowing he could take some of the responsibility from Phil's shoulders so Phil could sleep in peace.

"Everyone safe and accounted for," he said, pressing a kiss to Phil's temple.

"Can you sleep now?"

"Almost. Jarvis, you're on watch for the rest of the night."

"Aye, Sir," Jarvis replied as he turned the lights off in the room.

His last nighttime ritual was to settle Phil beside him, one hand splayed across the scar on his chest, and press a kiss to his lips.

"Good night," Steve murmured, before he finally let sleep claim him.  



End file.
